Post by Freddie on Aug 12, 2019 4:48:19 GMT 1
You don't realise the worth of a moment until it's gone and it's the exact feeling i had after I came back to indore after attending the 24th world Scout Jamboree at West Virginia, USA.
There are memories and experiences thay can't be described in words but still we try to bring them down on a page so that we can remember and cherish them while reading it after years to our children or maybe sitting in a corner of our house or apparently our death bed and reminding ourselves, that we've got the chance to live some of the most splendid moments, that we've been lucky enough to have lived the rarest of rare experiences and that yes, life was much more beautiful than it seemed to be.
An year before leaving for USA i had been this excited little kid with leaps of imagination and dreaming about how it was going to be.
15 days stay in the dense jungles of west Virginia with people from all over the world, adventure sports, learnings and celebrations.
There were ample of things calling for preparations involving every thing related to physical, mental, psychological and emotional being.
Almost 2 months before the jamboree the havoc was already created. Packings, tickets, shopping and what not! One thing I learnt was that life on the trip becomes much easier when you pack correctly, by taking only what you need and leaving the rest at home, eliminating the non essentials so you can focus more energy on what’s really important. It’s not just more comfortable but also helps you save your time.
I couldn’t believe the day had finally come I had been talking about it for what seemed like months!
19th of July 2019 I reached Summit Betchel Reserve that is the current home of the National Scout Jamboree, the Paul R. Christen National High Adventure Base, the James C. Justice National Scout Camp, and the John D. Tickle National Training and Leadership Center.
It is located in Fayette and Raleighcounties, near Beckley, West Virginia, is one of four facilities managed by the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA).
After reaching SBR we were guided about all our duties and were transported to the place which was going to be our stay for the next 15 days, The Echo Base Camp.
It was a little tight and looked like everyone was sitting on top of each other in the bus! After what seemed like forever, we got out and were greeted by the camp consular for instructions on how to setup our tents and everything related to the ISTs and the 24th WSJ.
I was the only girl IST ( International Service Team ) from the state of Madhya Pradesh. It was the first time I was going somewhere as a representative from my country, INDIA.
The international Service team was meant to help the BSA and the hosts of the 24th WSJ in carrying out all the activities and sports.
As an Adventure Guide I
was supposed to work at all the adventure sports and I got to encounter, experience, learn and capture some of the most amazing events of my life so far.
The first adventure sport I confronted was the Big zip line. Five parallel zip lines over a combined 3,000 feet long. Reach speeds of up to 50 MPH as you soar over The Summit on one of the longest zip line courses in all of North America which gives the most breathtaking view for sure!
The next day I was supposed to be helping the Rafting team. Me and my patrol members got lucky enough at the end of the day, to find a few vacancies in the bus and go for a 10kms long rafting in the oldest river of west Virginia, river Gorge. After paddling for about 6 miles we took a hault and jumped into the river swimming amidst the wild waves and the soothing sun for about half an hour. Good grace it was after the rafting trip we got to know that the water was 80ft deep at the spot where we were swimming like a carefree goldfish!
Shooting sports at the Jamboree included shotguns, rifles, and pistols. Rifle: .22 rifle 50 ft. (15 m), Static Pistol and the steel plate range. There was also Powder ball using aerial targets, and a paint ball gun with powder balls and chalkball adjacent to powder ball, shooting at steel reactive targets. Felt like a movie is going on and Iam there on a mission standing with a gun dropping down the enemies dead!
The next day I was super excited to do something that was always on my bucket list. Rock climbing, bouldering and rappelling. They were absolutely right when they said that once you get a hang of it , you will want to do it again.
The place was known as Boulder Cove.
A smaller version of The Rocks located within the Scott Summit Center. Climb, boulder, and rappel on the artificial surfaces that, to the unknowing which apparently looked like they had been around for hundreds of years.
Every night the whole echo base camp used to dazzle up with the dancing, singing and music from the Ists at the IST bash! All the tiredness from the whole day used to vanish in a blink of eye and we used to get charged up and re energized at a completely new level to meet the upcoming challenges the next day. A little drizzling of the rain always used to add up as a cherry on the cake giving a whole new refreshing and energetic feeling.( cheers to chat and chew ) . I remember getting these big blisters all over my feet and still dancing for about 2 3 hours almost forgetting the pain! Maybe that was the thing about wsj! The vibes that the place gave made you forget every injury and every pain.
Kayaking, canopy, ropes, water reality, ziplines and what not!
I won't even take a second to say that this was the best time of my life. It was a life time and a life changing experience.
I learnt that never be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Never did I value things so much that I do now after the camp, never was I so punctual with my schedules and so patient with things. Never was I so positive and so motivated about life and its goals that Iam now after these 15 days of wsj. I've learnt to adjust with people, with situations and with places. Survival of the fittest, for sure. I got to know so many people from all over the world, learn about their cultures, their ways of dealing with things and people and take back the most amazing memories locked inside our hearts forever.
No one likes to watch a movie that has a predictable ending and same goes with life. Wsj had the most unpredictable happenings, twists and turns that brought the actual excitement and fascination and made it the once in a life time experience.
Say what you want to say and do what you always wanted to do. You will never reach your goals if you are always scared of taking the next step.
Am glad I was lucky enough to be a part of the 24th World Scout Jamboree.
We definitely unlocked a new world, a world full virtue, integrity, probity, equity, jollity, elation and high spirits.
Cheers toh Scouting, Cheers to 24th WSJ and Cheers to Life.
- meesha Dave
(Adventure Guide)
IST- Indian Contingent.
There are memories and experiences thay can't be described in words but still we try to bring them down on a page so that we can remember and cherish them while reading it after years to our children or maybe sitting in a corner of our house or apparently our death bed and reminding ourselves, that we've got the chance to live some of the most splendid moments, that we've been lucky enough to have lived the rarest of rare experiences and that yes, life was much more beautiful than it seemed to be.
An year before leaving for USA i had been this excited little kid with leaps of imagination and dreaming about how it was going to be.
15 days stay in the dense jungles of west Virginia with people from all over the world, adventure sports, learnings and celebrations.
There were ample of things calling for preparations involving every thing related to physical, mental, psychological and emotional being.
Almost 2 months before the jamboree the havoc was already created. Packings, tickets, shopping and what not! One thing I learnt was that life on the trip becomes much easier when you pack correctly, by taking only what you need and leaving the rest at home, eliminating the non essentials so you can focus more energy on what’s really important. It’s not just more comfortable but also helps you save your time.
I couldn’t believe the day had finally come I had been talking about it for what seemed like months!
19th of July 2019 I reached Summit Betchel Reserve that is the current home of the National Scout Jamboree, the Paul R. Christen National High Adventure Base, the James C. Justice National Scout Camp, and the John D. Tickle National Training and Leadership Center.
It is located in Fayette and Raleighcounties, near Beckley, West Virginia, is one of four facilities managed by the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA).
After reaching SBR we were guided about all our duties and were transported to the place which was going to be our stay for the next 15 days, The Echo Base Camp.
It was a little tight and looked like everyone was sitting on top of each other in the bus! After what seemed like forever, we got out and were greeted by the camp consular for instructions on how to setup our tents and everything related to the ISTs and the 24th WSJ.
I was the only girl IST ( International Service Team ) from the state of Madhya Pradesh. It was the first time I was going somewhere as a representative from my country, INDIA.
The international Service team was meant to help the BSA and the hosts of the 24th WSJ in carrying out all the activities and sports.
As an Adventure Guide I
was supposed to work at all the adventure sports and I got to encounter, experience, learn and capture some of the most amazing events of my life so far.
The first adventure sport I confronted was the Big zip line. Five parallel zip lines over a combined 3,000 feet long. Reach speeds of up to 50 MPH as you soar over The Summit on one of the longest zip line courses in all of North America which gives the most breathtaking view for sure!
The next day I was supposed to be helping the Rafting team. Me and my patrol members got lucky enough at the end of the day, to find a few vacancies in the bus and go for a 10kms long rafting in the oldest river of west Virginia, river Gorge. After paddling for about 6 miles we took a hault and jumped into the river swimming amidst the wild waves and the soothing sun for about half an hour. Good grace it was after the rafting trip we got to know that the water was 80ft deep at the spot where we were swimming like a carefree goldfish!
Shooting sports at the Jamboree included shotguns, rifles, and pistols. Rifle: .22 rifle 50 ft. (15 m), Static Pistol and the steel plate range. There was also Powder ball using aerial targets, and a paint ball gun with powder balls and chalkball adjacent to powder ball, shooting at steel reactive targets. Felt like a movie is going on and Iam there on a mission standing with a gun dropping down the enemies dead!
The next day I was super excited to do something that was always on my bucket list. Rock climbing, bouldering and rappelling. They were absolutely right when they said that once you get a hang of it , you will want to do it again.
The place was known as Boulder Cove.
A smaller version of The Rocks located within the Scott Summit Center. Climb, boulder, and rappel on the artificial surfaces that, to the unknowing which apparently looked like they had been around for hundreds of years.
Every night the whole echo base camp used to dazzle up with the dancing, singing and music from the Ists at the IST bash! All the tiredness from the whole day used to vanish in a blink of eye and we used to get charged up and re energized at a completely new level to meet the upcoming challenges the next day. A little drizzling of the rain always used to add up as a cherry on the cake giving a whole new refreshing and energetic feeling.( cheers to chat and chew ) . I remember getting these big blisters all over my feet and still dancing for about 2 3 hours almost forgetting the pain! Maybe that was the thing about wsj! The vibes that the place gave made you forget every injury and every pain.
Kayaking, canopy, ropes, water reality, ziplines and what not!
I won't even take a second to say that this was the best time of my life. It was a life time and a life changing experience.
I learnt that never be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Never did I value things so much that I do now after the camp, never was I so punctual with my schedules and so patient with things. Never was I so positive and so motivated about life and its goals that Iam now after these 15 days of wsj. I've learnt to adjust with people, with situations and with places. Survival of the fittest, for sure. I got to know so many people from all over the world, learn about their cultures, their ways of dealing with things and people and take back the most amazing memories locked inside our hearts forever.
No one likes to watch a movie that has a predictable ending and same goes with life. Wsj had the most unpredictable happenings, twists and turns that brought the actual excitement and fascination and made it the once in a life time experience.
Say what you want to say and do what you always wanted to do. You will never reach your goals if you are always scared of taking the next step.
Am glad I was lucky enough to be a part of the 24th World Scout Jamboree.
We definitely unlocked a new world, a world full virtue, integrity, probity, equity, jollity, elation and high spirits.
Cheers toh Scouting, Cheers to 24th WSJ and Cheers to Life.
- meesha Dave
(Adventure Guide)
IST- Indian Contingent.